For generations, businesses in the Rubbertown complex by the Ohio River have released toxic materials into the air while making synthetic rubber, chemicals and other products. People in west Louisville have been stuck breathing in the dangerous pollutants.
But a group of residents banded together in the 1990s and 2000s, researched the problem and propelled the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District to impose stricter limits on pollution. Since then, district data show big reductions in toxic chemicals floating in the air near Rubbertown.
Today, a new study is designed to more precisely pinpoint how much progress they’ve actually made, and determine what hazards still threaten west Louisville residents’ health.
The research will help answer: “Has the risk been reduced as much as we anticipate it has been, and are there things that we need to look at next?” Rachael Hamilton, director of the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District, said.
The three-year Rubbertown Air Toxics and Health Assessment, or RATHA, project builds on the community-led West Louisville Air Toxics Study. That research lasted from 2000 to 2005 and proved what local residents had spent years sounding the alarm on: The air in neighborhoods near Rubbertown was dangerous to their health.
The West Jefferson County Community Task Force helped lead the original study and is handling the new project’s efforts to involve local residents in the work. In late September, it hosted the first in a series of quarterly community meetings.
About 25 people gathered inside the Shawnee Golf Course clubhouse as Louisville shook off the last rain from Hurricane Helene. They learned about the upcoming research and asked questions.
“Sometimes we get up in the morning and have a nice cup of coffee and go out on the back porch and can’t breathe. The smells are so strong, the chemicals are so thick in the air, that you can’t even enjoy a cup of coffee on your back porch,” said Rick Dulin, who lives in Shawnee. “I’ve known so many people in this neighborhood that I grew up with that died from cancers.”
Dulin said the community meeting “planted seeds for me and also showed me the need of providing advocacy” for his neighborhood.
Here’s an overview of a few core components of the new project.
New air monitoring study will check toxic chemical levels
The Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District will run a one-year study monitoring air toxics in west Louisville, especially around Rubbertown.
The previous West Louisville Air Toxics Study identified various dangerous substances, including notably high levels of 17 hazardous air pollutants that can cause cancer.
This spurred the creation of Louisville’s Strategic Toxic Air Reduction, or STAR, program, which set more stringent limits on industrial pollution.
Hamilton, the district’s director, said the upcoming research will use the same general method as the original study. The eventual results will give them an “apples-to-apples comparison” of air quality data between the two studies.
“Knowledge is power,” she said. “Now that it’s (STAR) been in place for 20 years, we see emissions reductions. We also understand from our own air toxics monitoring that there is significantly less pollution today. We want to be sure we understand what that means, so that’s why this study is really important now.”
She expects the findings to inform recommendations for policy changes, such as updates to the STAR program or to zoning rules for land use.
The district is making preparations for the monitoring work.
Eventually, Hamilton said, they’ll place special canisters to take air samples in spots selected to measure the pollution’s maximum impact. They’ll also set up sites that check for metals and mobile monitoring equipment to measure another pollutant, formaldehyde.
Wastewater research will watch for dangerous exposures
The University of Louisville’s Envirome Institute will collect and analyze wastewater samples to help measure west Louisville residents’ exposure to pollutants.
Research manager Lauren Anderson of the Envirome Institute said they’ll test local wastewater for chemicals the human body creates when it interacts with air toxics.
“They’re called metabolites. When we breathe in pollution, we expel those through our urine, and that’s what we’re… looking for,” she said.
Anderson also discussed how wastewater monitoring is an established research method that’s cost-effective and protects people’s privacy.
“We can take one single sample that represents thousands of people,” she said.
They aim to begin this research next February.
New assessment will estimate community health risks in west Louisville
Toxic chemicals in the air can cause cancer and other major health problems over time.
For example, severe liver problems, including several instances of a rare liver cancer linked to a chemical called vinyl chloride, were detected decades ago in former employees of an old B.F. Goodrich plant in Rubbertown.
At last month's community meeting, U of L graduate student Kat O Connell presented past data that show generally higher rates of cancer, like liver, lung and stomach cancers, for Black people than white people in Jefferson County.
“So that’s like a lot of doom and gloom, but we are trying to do something about it,” O Connell said.
For the new research project, the Envirome Institute is doing an assessment to estimate pollution-related community health risks in west Louisville.
Researchers will see if residents are experiencing more health problems than usual, especially cardiovascular disease and rare types of cancer. They’ll take data from the upcoming air and wastewater monitoring into account as well.
The institute also will partner with Park DuValle Community Health Center to develop tools to help health professionals treat patients who may be exposed to dangerous pollutants because of where they live.
Arnita Gadson, executive director of the West Jefferson County Community Task Force, indicated one key goal is to educate doctors about how air pollution may affect their patients.
“Hopefully, they'll be able to evaluate you better,” Gadson said at the late September meeting. “In other words: Instead of saying ‘I've got high blood pressure because I'm Black.’ … I may have high blood pressure because I've lived for 30 years next to that chemical (plant).”
